The 2024 legislative session brought significant developments impacting education, workforce development, and social safety net services in Los Angeles County. EDGE is proud to have played a key role in advocating for these crucial policy and budget priorities. This wrap-up highlights the impact of key legislation and budget items for Los Angeles. While some of our supported measures were signed into law, others faced vetoes or delays. Nevertheless, our ongoing efforts remain focused on advancing equitable outcomes for all Angelenos, particularly those facing systemic barriers to economic mobility.
Below is a summary of EDGE’s 2024 legislative and budget priorities and their specific impact on Los Angeles County. For the zoom slides, click here.
AB 359 (Holden) CCAP Dual Enrollment Partnerships. This bill makes changes to the College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) partnerships to align with best practices from other dual enrollment programs and to streamline access for students across the state, like simplifying the application process, and expanding partnerships with more colleges. Dual enrollment gives students the opportunity to take community college courses, allowing them to earn college credits while still completing their high school education.
High school students in the 80 public school districts and 270 charter schools in LA County, including the 27,740 adult learners enrolled in the 10 Adult Education Campuses, would have benefitted from the development of seamless pathways to college-level coursework and expanded preparatory opportunities.
EDGE position: Support
Status: Vetoed. View the Governor’s message here.
AB 2458 (Berman) Student-Parents. This bill seeks to empower student-parents by easing financial burdens, facilitating enrollment, and enhancing graduation rates in their pursuit of higher education. This legislation strives to guarantee that student-parents access the financial assistance they need, factoring in childcare costs. Furthermore, it mandates college campuses (UC, CSU, CCC) to gather and analyze data to propel student-parent achievement.
Los Angeles community colleges will now strengthen financial aid access for student-parents. Also, colleges will be empowered to better identify student-parents through improved data collection to aid in their educational outcomes. This will benefit numerous student-parents in LA, many of whom are first-generation students and students of color.
EDGE position: Support
Status: Chaptered
AB 2769 (Ortega) Apprenticeships: income tax returns. This bill would mandate the Franchise Tax Board to include a checkbox on individual income tax returns for taxable years starting January 1, 2025. Taxpayers can consent to sharing their information with the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, allowing them to receive information about apprenticeship programs in California.
EDGE position: Support
Status: Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee
AB 2873 (Garcia) Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative. This bill would make changes to the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative (BB2E) by setting aside 15% of any future allocated funds to prospective grantees, like community-based organizations who were unable to secure a workforce board partner entity before the deadline but were able to meet all other requirements. Any funds not used in this allocation will roll over to the next application cycle. BB2E enhances workforce and education programs by offering services to support individuals facing employment challenges.
Los Angeles operates 28 workforce development and job training programs in addition to several community-based organizations that are involved in workforce efforts. With the increase in the number of robust community-based organizations (CBOs) that supplement existing workforce education, it has become a lengthy process to partner and sustain workforce development board partnerships. The passage of AB 2873 will now allow smaller CBOs in LA to receive funding for operations while continuing to strengthen their partnerships with workforce development boards.
EDGE position: Support
Status: Chaptered
AB 3240 (Calderon) CA Ban on Scholarship Displacement: Cal Grants. The California Ban on Scholarship Displacement Act of 2021 prevents colleges from reducing a student’s institutional aid due to private scholarships unless the total aid surpasses the cost of attendance. It also prohibits colleges from factoring in private scholarships when determining a student’s eligibility for institutional aid. Starting July 1, 2025, this bill would extend these protections to students eligible for Cal Grants.
AB 3240 expands protections for the 205,000 students enrolled in a Los Angeles community college who may be eligible for the Cal Grant program.
EDGE position: Support
Status: Chaptered
SB 227 (Durazo) Excluded Workers Program. This bill would require the Employment Development Department (EDD) to develop a detailed plan to establish a permanent Excluded Workers Program to provide cash assistance that resembles unemployment insurance benefits to unemployed workers who are ineligible for these benefits due to their immigration status.
Undocumented immigrants play a significant role in LA’s economy, contributing significantly to the local economy through various industries such as construction. Despite not having access to full benefits, undocumented immigrants still contribute to state and local taxes. This bill would have supported approximately 951,000 undocumented Angelenos.
EDGE position: Support
Status: Vetoed. View the Governor’s message here.
2024 Budget Advocacy
Investments In Workforce Development & the Economy
High Road Training Partnerships. The budget preserved funding for High Road Training Partnerships by rejecting $45 million in cuts and reallocating $15 million to expand these programs at the Workforce Development Board. HRTP supports worker-focused, industry-led training that emphasizes equity, job quality, and sustainability.
HRTPs will benefit the LA region by supporting skill development for employees engaged in the largest sectors, such as healthcare, transit, building operations, and freight. In LA, these sectors directly employ 95,000 workers and contribute about $66 billion in economic output.
CA Youth Leadership Corps (CYLC). The budget preserved $20 million in funding for the CA Youth Leadership Corps, supporting earn-and-learn career pathways at 20 community colleges over four years to drive community change.
CYLC operates at East Los Angeles College and Los Angeles Trade Tech College where earn-and-learn career pathways are offered in fields relevant to Los Angeles.
CA Youth Apprenticeship Program. The budget preserved $25 million in funding for the CA Youth Apprenticeship Program to develop innovative ways to boost opportunity youth participation in pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships, demonstrating positive employment and earnings outcomes.
LA County organizations can apply for substantial grants: $2 million for both pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships. Funding will greatly benefit Opportunity Youth by increasing access to, and awareness of workforce programs.
Women in Construction. The budget preserved $15 million in ongoing funding for the Women in Construction Unit at the Department of Industrial Relations, including five permanent positions to support women and non-binary individuals in the skilled trades sector.
The ongoing funding for the Women in Construction Unit is likely to have a positive impact on Los Angeles County by increasing opportunities for women and nonbinary individuals in the construction industry. This initiative aims to address the gender disparity in construction, where women currently represent a small percentage of the workforce. Organizations in Los Angeles, such as WINTER, are already providing training and support to help women succeed in this field, which can lead to high-paying careers and financial security. The funding will further bolster these efforts by enhancing recruitment, training, and support services in the region.
Investments in Education & Students
Cradle-to-Career Data System. The budget preserved key funding for the Cradle-to-Career Data System (C2C), including $2 million to boost the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI), which provides college and career planning tools to all 6th-12th graders. C2C also expands eTranscript California for smoother transfer of community college transcripts to four-year schools. An additional $12 million in one-time funds will extend eTranscript to all 116 community colleges, improving student record transfers and reducing third-party reliance. Grants will cover local setup and integration costs.
Continuation of comprehensive linked data from early education through workforce participation offers LA a positive feedback loop for ensuring best practices in the LA public education and workforce systems.
Credit for Prior Learning. The budget allocated $6 million in one-time funding for the Mapping Articulated Pathways (MAP) for Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) project. This initiative helps working adults access high-demand careers by supporting colleges in establishing CPL practices, using technology to automate credit transfers, and providing grants for faculty development and technical assistance.
Currently, 15 of the 19 LA Community Colleges participate in MAP. These schools will benefit from the $6 million allocation awarded through grants to award credit for prior learning or to develop a framework to institutionalize the practice.
Social Safety Net Investments for Underserved Communities
Food for All. Although the budget maintains the commitment to expand the CA Food Assistance Program (CFAP), it implements a two-year delay to the program – automation to begin in 2026-27 with benefits beginning in 2027-28. CFAP would provide food assistance to undocumented immigrants 55 and older. In addition to the delay, the budget continues to exclude undocumented immigrants 54 and under to access the program.
With an estimated 951,000 undocumented immigrants living in LA County, 64 percent being children, this budget delay will impact immigrants earning low-incomes aged 55 or older. Regardless of age, all undocumented immigrants will need to wait until 2026 for urgent food assistance.
Child Care. The budget reaffirms the expansion of over 200,000 subsidized childcare slots by 2028, as approved in 2021. It also fully funds 11,000 awarded expansion slots from current appropriations.
The current childcare landscape in LA County is challenging, with the current early childhood education (ECE) system capacity to only serve 14% of families (with children zero to three) that are eligible for subsidized childcare.
There is also a 35% decline in state-subsidized preschool enrollment from 2019 to 2023.
The full funding of 11,000 awarded expansion will provide immediate relief where LA County faces a critical shortage of infant and toddler care, with licensed capacity to serve only 4% of children under 2 years old.
Health for All. The budget sustains funding for Health4All, expanding Medi-Cal coverage to undocumented immigrants aged 26-49. Initially approved in 2022, this included $835.6 million in 2023-24 and $2.6 billion annually which began January 2024.
The expansion of Medi-Cal coverage is significant for healthcare access in LA County where previously uninsured resident in LA County will gain access to comprehensive healthcare coverage.
LA County hospitals will also find financial relief in the form of reduced costs of uncompensated care because more patients will be insured